Great Bear Lake and Great Slave Lake, Canada

Many lakes, large and small, are dotted across Canada’s Northwest Territories. The largest two are the Great Bear Lake, upper left corner, and the Great Slave Lake, center.

The Great Bear Lake is the largest lake entirely within Canada (Lake Superior and Lake Huron straddling the Canada-US border are larger), the third largest in North America, and the seventh largest in the world. The lake has a surface area of 31,153 km² (12,028 mi²) and a total volume of 2,236 km³ (536 mi³). Here, it is still frozen over with ice and appears white in color.

The Great Slave Lake is the second-largest lake in the Northwest Territories, the deepest lake in North America at 614 m, and the ninth-largest lake in the world. It covers an area of 27200 km2 in the southern part of the territory. Its volume is 2090 km3. Some ice is visible on the surface, particularly in the northern and western parts, while the eastern portion shows colorful brown and green sediments.